easyJet Victorious In High Court

14th May 1998

In an unprecedented decision, the judge in the easyJet vs British Airways case ruled that easyJet has an arguable case against BA for an abuse of dominant position in cross subsidising its low-cost subsidiary airline `go`.

This means that the original easyJet case will now definitely be heard in the High Court in the next few months. BA had applied to strike out of court the easyJet writ as baseless. Obviously the judge disagreed with BA and, for the first time ever in legal history, he found that a dominant company like BA can distort competition even before its subsidiary starts flying.
“This is great news for the consumer and for fair competition,” said Stelios, chairman of easyJet. “I am delighted that the courts are prepared to stand behind us during our fight with this habitual offender.”
Contrary to misleading information put out by British Airways, the case heard in court was never about whether `go` should be allowed to start flying next week. The interim injunction that easyJet sought was to prevent BA from guaranteeing the leases on the next five `go` aircraft. The judge refused this injunction on the basis that an immediate court injunction on the lease guarantees would not stop `go` from flying and that the matter would be better heard in the main court case.